Meanwhile, in the village
The sky had changed.
What had been a calm, bright afternoon was now choked with dark clouds. Thunder rumbled in the distance, and lightning flashed at random intervals, striking the ground without warning.
A tree near the village square had been split in half. A storage shed was now a pile of smoking rubble. Several villagers had been injured, their arms and legs singed where the bolts had grazed them.
A middle-aged man named Oimo had bought one of the raincoats earlier that day. He'd been skeptical at first—five hundred berries was a lot for a piece of clothing. But the orange-haired woman had been convincing, and the raincoat was light, comfortable, and smelled faintly of chocolate.
He was walking home when he saw a group of villagers huddled together, whispering.
"What's going on?" Oimo asked.
One of them pointed up. "Enel's been in a bad mood all of a sudden. He's been striking random spots with lightning."
"Random?" Oimo frowned. "He hit the Heso family's shed. Old man Heso's arm is burned. His granddaughter was crying."
Another villager nodded. "He hit the market square too. Two people were injured. We don't even know why."
A woman clutched her child closer. "He's probably just testing us. Reminding us who's in charge."
Oimo's hand went to his raincoat. It was still on. He hadn't taken it off since he bought it.
Anger flared in his chest. He wanted to yell. To scream at the sky. To tell Enel exactly what he thought of him.
But then the fear came. The old, familiar fear. The one that had kept him quiet for god knows how long. He opened his mouth to shout, then stopped. His hands trembled. He looked at the ground.
'What if...?'
He shook his head. It was just a coat. It couldn't possibly protect him from a god's lightning.
A bolt of lightning struck the ground fifty feet away. The villagers scattered.
Oimo didn't move.
He looked at the spot where the lightning had hit. The earth was blackened. A small fire flickered where the bolt had landed. Then he looked at his raincoat.
'What if it actually works?'
He took a breath.
"ENEL IS A FRAUD!"
The words left his mouth before he could stop them. The villagers froze. They stared at him in horror.
"What are you doing?!" someone hissed. "Have you finally lost it? If you want to die, go do it somewhere else—not here where we can get caught in your crossfire!"
Oimo's heart was pounding. But he didn't run.
"His lightning can't hurt me!" he shouted, gesturing at his raincoat. "This coat—it protects me! The Blue Sea travelers gave it to me!"
A crack of thunder split the air. A bolt of lightning shot down from the sky, aimed directly at Oimo.
He closed his eyes.
The lightning struck him.
There was a flash. A roar. The ground trembled. The air smelled of ozone and burnt fabric.
Oimo opened his eyes.
He was still standing. His raincoat was smoking slightly, and the sleeve had a small scorch mark. But his skin was unmarked. No pain. No burn. No death.
He laughed—a loud, surprised, joyous laugh. "I'M ALIVE! IT WORKED!"
The villagers stared. Then one of them stepped forward.
"Did... did Enel's lightning just fail?"
"It didn't fail," Oimo said, grinning. "It just couldn't touch me. Not through this coat."
Another villager pointed at Oimo's raincoat. "Where did you get that?"
"The travelers! The ones with the stall! They have more!"
Within minutes, word spread. The stall was swarmed.
"GIVE US THE COATS! THE CAPS! THE UMBRELLAS!"
Nami's eyes widened as the crowd surged forward. "Whoa—everyone, calm down—"
"We have money! Just give us the gear!"
She glanced at Vivi, who was already counting coins faster than she'd ever seen. "What happened?"
"I think someone tested your product," Vivi said, her voice calm. "And it worked."
Nami blinked. "Tested?"
A man pushed to the front. "I saw it! Enel struck him with lightning, and he didn't feel a thing! He's still alive!"
The crowd roared. "WE NEED THOSE COATS!"
Nami's mind raced. 'This is the best business I've done.'
She grabbed a stack of raincoats. "Form a line! Everyone will get what they need, the prebooking is beginning now!"
Meanwhile, in Upper Yard**
Enel sat on his throne, his eyes closed, his face twisted in fury.
Lightning crackled around him.
"Again," he muttered. "Again."
His priests had brought him news. The villagers were mocking him. Openly. In public. They were calling him a fraud.
"Another one," Enel growled. "Another bolt."
He raised his hand. Lightning shot from his fingers, tearing across the sky.
Below, in the village, the bolt struck a man wearing a cap.
The man looked up at the sky. Then he pointed at Enel's general direction.
"IS THAT ALL YOU'VE GOT?!"
Enel's eyes twitched.
"ANOTHER ONE!"
Another bolt. Another cap. Another unaffected person.
"YOU'RE NOT A GOD! YOU'RE JUST A MAN WITH AN INFLATED EGO!"
Enel's grip tightened on his throne. "Kill them," he whispered. "Kill them all."
But the lightning did nothing. The people laughed.
Enel stood up. His body crackled with electricity. His eyes were wild.
"Fine," he muttered. "I'll do it myself."
He rose from his throne, lightning arcing off his shoulders, his face twisted with rage. The clouds around him darkened. The air grew heavy.
Behind him, in the shadows of the throne room, four figures watched everything happen in front of their eyes quietly.
But now, they exchanged glances.
"He's going himself?" Ohm, the priest of the Iron Trial, spoke first. His voice was low, barely a whisper. "Did I hear that correctly?"
"You did." Satori, the priest of the Ball Trial, nodded slowly. His usual playful demeanor was gone, replaced by something more serious. "He said he'll do it himself."
Gedatsu, the priest of the Swamp Trial, scratched his head, genuinely confused. "But... he's been doing it himself this whole time, hasn't he? Ever since that man started badmouthing him, Lord Enel has been the only one attacking."
"From a distance," Shura, the priest of the String Trial, added quietly. He held his flaming lance loosely, his eyes fixed on Enel's back. "He's been throwing lightning from his throne. Never descending. Never facing them directly."
"And failing," Ohm said, his voice flat. "Every bolt. Every strike. Nothing. The people laugh at him now."
The four priests fell silent. The implication hung in the air, heavy and uncomfortable.
"I've served Lord Enel for years," Gedatsu said slowly, as if the words were difficult to form. "I've never seen him like this. He's always been calm. Controlled. He never... raged."
"He's never failed before either," Satori pointed out. "No one has ever resisted his power. No one has ever mocked him. This is... new."
Shura's grip tightened on his lance. "Has he finally lost it? Is our god... breaking?"
The question was heresy. They all knew it. But none of them denied it.
They had watched him send bolt after bolt, each one failing. They had watched the people of Skypiea laugh and cheer, their fear of Enel replaced by something far more dangerous: contempt.
And they had watched their god—their invincible, untouchable god—descend into a rage unlike anything they had ever seen.
"We haven't even descended yet," Ohm muttered. "The trials haven't been deployed. We've just been watching him fail from up here."
"And now he says he'll do it himself," Satori added. "As if he hasn't been doing exactly that this whole time. As if we've been the ones failing him."
The four priests exchanged glances again. None of them said what they were thinking. None of them dared.
But the thought was there, unspoken but understood:
'What if Enel is not the god we believed him to be? What if he never was?'
Above them, Enel took one step forward. The lightning around him intensified. The clouds churned. His rage was a physical thing now, crackling in the air, pressing down on everything.
And then—
"Lord Enel."
The voice came from behind him. Calm. Measured.
Enel stopped. He didn't turn around.
"What?"
Shura stepped forward, his massive wings folding against his back. His spear rested on his shoulder. His expression was careful—respectful, but firm.
"There are intruders approaching Upper Yard. Blue Sea dwellers. The ones who gave the villagers those... trinkets."
Enel's eye twitched. "I know."
"They're heading toward the trials. If you leave now, they'll reach the heart of Upper Yard before you return."
Enel turned his head slightly. "And?"
"And if you go down there to deal with the villagers, you'll be wasting your time. They're not going anywhere. They're not a threat. They're just... laughing."
Enel's hands crackled. "They're mocking me."
"Yes. But they're mocking you because they feel safe. Because of those Blue Sea dwellers and their gear." Shura paused. "Once the intruders are dealt with—once their gear is destroyed—the villagers will remember who you are. They'll remember fear. They'll come crawling back."
Gedatsu stepped forward, his clumsy gait somehow still intimidating. "He's right, Lord Enel. The villagers are sheep. They only laugh because they think someone is protecting them. Kill the shepherds, and the sheep will scatter."
Ohm nodded, his Eisen Whip coiled at his side. "The intruders are the real threat. They're the ones who gave the villagers courage. Remove them, and the courage dies with them."
Satori smiled, his strange, unsettling grin spreading across his face. "And once they're gone, we can find new ways to punish the villagers. Creative ways. Make an example of them. Remind them what happens to those who forget their place."
Enel was silent for a long moment. His lightning flickered—uncontrolled, erratic—but slowly, it began to steady.
"You're saying I should let them laugh," he said quietly. "Let them mock me. While I deal with the intruders."
"For now," Shura said. "Their laughter is temporary. Their fear will be permanent."
Enel stared at the village below. He could still hear them—the cheers, the laughter, the mocking voices carrying on the wind.
It made his blood boil.
But Shura was right. They were sheep. They only laughed because they thought someone was protecting them.
Once the intruders were dead, the laughter would stop.
"Fine," Enel said. He turned away from the village, his body still crackling with barely contained rage. "We deal with the intruders first."
He looked at his priests. "Which trial are they approaching?"
"The Ordeal of String," Satori said, his grin widening. "They're heading toward my domain."
Enel nodded. "Then prepare yourself. I want them broken. I want them to suffer. I want them to scream loud enough that the villagers hear it and remember what fear feels like."
Satori bowed. "As you wish, Lord Enel."
Enel sat back on his throne, his fingers drumming against the armrest. His lightning was still sparking, but his face had settled into something colder. Something more patient.
"Let them laugh," he muttered. "They'll stop soon enough."
Below, in the village
The sky was still dark, but the fear was gone. In its place was something new. Something electric. A giddy, reckless energy that spreads from person to person like wildfire.
A man named Toru—who had bought a raincoat earlier—stood in the middle of the square, his arms spread wide. "COME ON, ENEL! HIT ME AGAIN! I'M STILL STANDING!"
A bolt of lightning struck him. He didn't flinch.
"IS THAT IT?!" he shouted, laughing. "MY GRANDMOTHER HITS HARDER THAN THAT!"
The crowd roared with laughter.
A woman named Misa—wearing one of the new suits—climbed onto a barrel and pointed at the sky. "HEY, ENEL! YOU CALL YOURSELF A GOD? MY TODDLER THROWS BETTER TANTRUMS THAN YOU!"
Lightning struck her. She didn't even blink.
"PATHETIC!" she called out. "ABSOLUTELY PATHETIC!"
The crowd cheered.
A young man named Kenji ran through the streets, waving a rubber umbrella. "ENEL'S A FRAUD! ENEL'S A FRAUD! HE CAN'T EVEN HURT A FLY!"
Lightning struck him. He spun the umbrella and kept running. "IS THAT ALL YOU'VE GOT?! I'VE FELT WORSE FROM A SUNBURN!"
The villagers were laughing so hard some of them were crying.
Another man—older, with a graying beard—stood on his roof and shook his fist at the sky. "YOU'VE BEEN BULLYING US FOR YEARS! AND NOW LOOK AT YOU! CAN'T EVEN SCRATCH US! HOW DOES IT FEEL, HUH?! HOW DOES IT FEEL TO BE USELESS?!"
A bolt of lightning struck him. He stumbled back a step, then straightened.
"USELESS!" he shouted. "ABSOLUTELY USELESS!"
The crowd erupted.
A group of children had gathered near the stall, watching the adults with wide eyes. Then one of them—a little girl with pigtails—picked up a small rubber cap and put it on.
"ENEL'S A BIG STUPID HEAD!" she yelled.
Lightning struck her. She giggled.
"HE'S A BIG STUPID HEAD AND HE CAN'T DO ANYTHING!"
The other children joined in.
"ENEL WEARS FUNNY CLOTHES!"
"ENEL SMELLS LIKE OLD SOCKS!"
"ENEL'S MOM IS A—"
The lightning kept striking. The children kept laughing.
Above, in the clouds
Enel hovered above the village, his body crackling with electricity, his face twisted with rage.
"STOP IT!" he screamed. "STOP LAUGHING!"
The villagers looked up at him. Then they laughed harder.
"LOOK WHO FINALLY SHOWED UP!" Toru shouted. "THE BIG BAD GOD HIMSELF!"
"YOU'RE NOT A GOD!" Misa called out. "YOU'RE JUST A BULLY!"
Enel's eyes twitched. His hands trembled.
"I WILL DESTROY YOU ALL!"
He raised his hand. Lightning gathered in his palm—more than before. A massive bolt, enough to level the entire square.
He threw it.
The lightning struck the ground.
When the smoke cleared, the villagers were still standing. Still laughing.
"IS THAT IT?!" Kenji shouted.
"MY TURN!" the old man on the roof called out. "HEY, ENEL! YOUR LIGHTNING IS SO WEAK, MY ARTHRITIS FLARES UP MORE THAN YOUR ATTACKS!"
Enel's face went white.
"YOU DARE—"
"YOUR GODHOOD IS A JOKE!" Toru shouted. "YOU'RE JUST A MAN WITH AN INFLATED EGO!" Saying the same words again as if knowing these words would definitely brings a rise in Enel's anger.
Enel's hands were shaking. His breathing was ragged.
"YOU'LL ALL DIE! I'LL KILL EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU!"
The villagers just laughed harder.
"COME DOWN HERE AND TRY!" Misa shouted.
"WE'LL WAIT!" the old man added.
Enel stared at them. At their smiling faces. At their complete lack of fear.
Something inside him cracked.
"I... I am a god..."
"YOU'RE A FRAUD!" the children shouted together.
Enel's eyes twitched. His body trembled. His lightning flickered—uncontrolled, erratic.
"ENOUGH!"
He flew down, his body crackling with electricity, his face twisted with rage.
The villagers didn't run. They didn't flinch. They just stood there, watching him come.
And they were still laughing.